The GDL train drivers’ union and Deutsche Bahn agreed, on Thursday, March 20, to maintain the wage levels of train drivers unable to keep working after a serious shock, until the end of their career. They will receive 100 percent of their last salary, regardless of the position to which they are transferred. They can also decide to leave with a generous compensation package. Other wage and redeployment guarantees are planned for drivers who were incapacitated for other reasons. However, the GDL failed to impose its initial claim: applying such measures to all 26,000 train drivers in Germany. The complicated negotiations between the social partners for more than two years led to several strike threats in recent months.
The small train drivers’ union, famous for its strategic position and its ability to block the entire German rail network (big strike in 2007) has secured a wage guarantee for “severely traumatized” train drivers. This means drivers that can’t keep doing their job for physical and psychological reasons, following a serious industrial accident or a suicide on the tracks for instance. Starting on April 1, 2014, they will be offered the possibility of transferring to another position in the comp
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